The Triangle Fire

CNN

Remembering the Triangle Fire 100 years later

By Allan Chernoff, CNN Sr. Correspondent March 25, 2011: 11:19 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNN) -- As labor unions battle to retain collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states, they are marking the centennial of a tragic factory fire that started the movement that first won those rights.

A scene of surreal horror engulfed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Manhattan 100 years ago on March 25, 1911 during a disaster that ultimately would lead to better and safer conditions for all working people in the United States.

It was a Saturday afternoon, 4:40 p.m., shortly before closing time. About 500 young, low-paid immigrant garment workers, who labored six-days-a-week, were crammed by their sewing machines and cutting boards, busy creating the popular women's blouses that buttoned down to the waist, known then as shirtwaists.
.... Triangle Fire and workers rights - Mar. 25, 2011
Time magazine pictorial: Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire